The winds blew, enough force and sand in them to strip the paint off a shelter and more than enough to strip the flesh from your bones if you didn't have a bio suit or armour.

They waited, omni mining shelters where built for just that, shelter, not for comfort. The noise was incredible it had been for hours, perhaps days.

3 days they had been there holding out while the water ran dy, 3 days with no way of knowing they would not die, "they" where an omni mining core slaves to all intents and purposes, no say in how and when they worked, they had come to make the big bucks and leave, it was a common story then freindships, even love had happened, plans got changed...

3 days ago, they had tried, tried to step out and make their mark as a community, this had been met with extreame violence and brutality, people got shot children got hurt tempers flared, so a small battle had ensuded, half of them where nothing more than memories, the remains already nothing more than scattered dust outside the dome since the storm hit.

Many thought this was it, their time was over that the miniute the storm broke and the omni guards got to this shelter, their dreams of freedom over or already flagging there was nothing to do but bicker amongst them selves.

"we are doomed"

"shut up you ass hole"

"you shut the fuck up!"

"make me!"

a small fight develops, neither fighter has much to give thirst and hunger sapping their strength

"pack it in you stupid fuckers! the guys you should be fightng are outside laughing at us"

"well he shouldn't..."

boom

the voice trils off into silence..

boom

"what the fuck is that?"

boom

"stop fucking around!"

boom

"yeah right it's all my fault you fucking dick-spring!"

boom

a voice of child breaks the moment.

"it's some outside"

"shut up you stupid kid, noone is outside, outside is death"

boom

another voice cuts in through the darkness

"hey don't speak to her that way !"

"I'll speak to her anyway I please!"

boom

"erm peple I think the kids right, that is someone outside"

boom

" well someone go take a look then!"

boom

"fuck that I'm not going out there!"

boom

another voice, perhaps driven by desperation chirps in

"ok ok, tough guy I'll go look"

"yeah right you go look, more water for the rest of us"

boom

"your such a prick I swear"

"yeah well at least I'm not dumb enough to go out there"

boom

"well fuck you if we're all going to die here then I'm going!"

A frail figure moves to the door, opens the inner spincter and steps inside, the door closes behind her, with nothing to loose she pulls on what little protection the mining helmet gives and codes in the sequence for the outer door..

Boom

A figure falls into the hachway, the colour of the dessert, the wind laps around the door already doing it's damage to the armour she wears.. in blind panic without checking she closes the out hatch and opens the inner one.

The wind still howls outside at hundreds of miles an hour, but a solom silence has fallen on the miners, most of them look in awe at what has come in from the storm.

"you stupid bitch!"

cracks the silence for everyone

before she can answer the verbal onslaught continues

"it could be anything, some plauge ridden animal for all we know, you've only brought death upon us!"

"I..." is all she can say before the unfamiliar voice speaks

"shut up, shut up all of you"

A stunned silence follows, as the figure that came in from the storm slowley stands helping it's self up via a table, and slowley removes what they all hope is a helmet.

His, His face wich is definately male blinks in the low light of the shelter, how old is impossible to guess, with these insurance terminals people on rubi-ka can effectively live to a very old age while appearing youthfull, but something in the darkness in the eyes sugests age beyond the rest of his face, an unnerving figure to say the least.

"thank you"

still stunned silence prevails

" I am caloss2, my name does not matter, but I will answer to it"

"how did you.."

"survive outside in the .."

Baahm, the dust leaps from the table as he smashes the helmet he still hold in his hands into the surface of the table.

"this is clan armour, not the best there is is, but it is ours"

"whats this 'ours' shit caloss?"

"you knew you where dead the minuite you held up in here didn't you?"

"well we.."

"you knew right?"

"we.."

"you fucking knew it..right?"

"I ..guess but we.."

"you choose to fight and die before taking it up the arse from omni-tec anylonger "

"well that makes you clan to me "

"yeah but don't have any.."

"shut the fuck up and listen to me if you want to live!"

Again the silence falls on our friends in the shelter but with and edge of trepidation, the air outside is violent and deadley, but carrys none of the gravity the air inside now seems to.

no-one answers the question, perhaps the truth is hard to admit or perhaps the gaze from those acient eyes stifles even the strongest shout.

"If you wish to live; I will need this information"

The old woman, the one that has let this scorpion into the haven speaks first.

" maybe two days days water, another days food"

Heads drop around the room as others accept the truth of those words, in some quite corner a mother quietens her child.

The stranger looks around the room, his gaze cold and calulating, proping every item every person on some level, there is no expression at all.

"Listen up"

ther is no need for this statement, no one is speacking or much less thinking of anything else around this man from the dessert

"We have two choises"

"we use what we have, and fight or we wait 5 days to die of thirst"

a child starts to speak but is scilenced by their mother

" but we could..."

The mother glances her apologey to our stranger, and lowers her gaze

"let her speak"

all eyes turn upon the child, the mother is almost shamed by the attention, but the child inocent of adult greed or inflection starts to speak.

"I can get some more food"

muttering starts all over the room low at first, louder as it continues.

"explain this"

All sound seems to stop in the room, save that of the child

"I was hungrey this morning mister, so I went into the air duct, I could smell the fresh bread the monsters have"

"monsters?"

"the men that killed daddy"

"can you show me these ducts?"

The child points a finger

All eyes follow the line it draws in space to the small grill in the wall.

"Are there lots of bends in there?"

"only two I think"

"did you get your bread?"

"no"

"did you become trapped inside?"

"no I go their bread"

From nowhere the stranger flurishes a weapon it is about a metre in leangth

"Could you fit this through the ducts, even around the bends?"

the child does not speak she only nods

The mother holds her child close and trys to quiet her

the muttering starts and soon becomes a loud barrage.

"The child will not go"

The muttering starts to subside.

There is movement of light, not quite light but as if looking at a pattern on a blanket on waking one image becomes another, there is a smealess transion of image one second a man is standing, the next a small animal often called a leet, Rubi-Ka answer to the rat is looking at the room with those same ageless eyes.

There is muttering, then following that there is uproar as the small rodent speeds toward the grill smashes it and vanishes.

"ok what just happend ?"

"yeah who spiked the food, my god what was that?"

the discourse continiues and drowns out the sound of the gun fire out side

"hush!"

Old, almost forgotten arguments proceed, but noise outside still unheard

the barrage of noise continiues

"I said Hush"

The voice is harsh as it is brittle, the voice of age and of knowlege

"I've seen this before"

Now the croweds noise dropps to almose a wisper

"this isn't magic you dammed fools"

The voice is that of the old woman that let the stranger into to reffuge

"When I came to Rubi-Ka I saw such things with my father"

"It's simpley technology, and something to do with the extra element here"

"notum?"

"yes that's it notum, this isn't magic"

"Hey I just saw a 180 kilio guy just became a rat, you wanna say it's not still not magic ?"

"It is NOT magic"

As the noise has subsided, now the refugees hear the gun shots

"he's dead"

"who is dead?"

"he's not dead !"

"how would.."

"the gaurds are attacking outside again"

All at once the recentley forgotten grill almost explodes, parts of it hit the outer walls, there is smoke and dust

When the dust settles there is our stranger, bloodied and swaying

In each hand he hold guns like those of the guards, two in each, he looks to the refugees and locks his gase on just one, the attention is heavy like lead and the refugee almost buckles under it.

"can you use a gun?"

"I think I can try"

"don't try, DO"

At that that a weapon crosses the air, nothing special save that is is loaded and it can kill.

"will you use it? when the time comes?"

"I will try to.."

"WILL YOU USE IT WHEN THE TIME COMES"

The voice is cutting, some of the over-tomes make others feel ill there seems to be an echo in the room around these words the seem to speak to something primal deapth, carrying something that lifts the hairs on the mans neck

"I WILL use it"

Tears welling in his eyes, a glance to the others, he is lost in the moment, lost to the voice that has called, not from with out, but from with in, inside the man can hear the voices, there is no doubt, there is no question there is simpley now.. and what must be done

From somewhere there comes a surge, a uplifting of emotion that would over welm him send him screaming into the darkness save the voice he finds as the emotion washes over him...

He screams from his belly, from something primal a shout cuts across all distraction all thought

"I AM CLAN,"

he gasps almost staggering from the effort and emotion of the statement, but gasps and continiues

"AND WHEN THE MOMENT COMES I AM READY"

Scilence follows behind it's wake like a wave, some look agape at the madness that hey have heard, save one our stranger

Our stranger makes an arc in the air with somethingthing, the man pulls it out of the air without taking his eyes from the stranger

"extra ammo, use it sparingley"

There is a glance, a momentary meeting of eyes, no words pass no movement but all can sense something being said

"I'll try not to miss"

"Anyone else think they can fight?"

The world seems to stop for a moment, and then begins again to turn. somehow on a new axis somehow with.. something so petty and human... hope.

A flurry of interest and noise almost drowns out the relentless barrage outside, like water moving across the floor a sense of hope and purpose sparks between clusters of people gatherd in the shelter.

As it does so the atmosphere seems to be twisted by it, bent around the will of these people, it is almost palpable like the knowege of a sunday roast eminating from a kitchen, it's aroma causing your mouth to salivate, and your belly to rumble in anticipation

Table legs are removed and fashioned in the most basic of weapons, much happens at speed, as it happens the speed seems to increase, like an avalache from a small grumble into a unstoppable force of white death and destruction.

"Are we ready to die.... ?"

the question seems to puzzle people as our stranger asks it.

the man holding his newley aquired gun is the first to break the silence

"I am ready to fight, and ready to kill, so I dammed well will be ready to die"

"Spoken like a clanner"

Our stranger, once again locks his gaze with this one, words are said but again nothing is spoken.

"do you have a name brother?"

"Kell, I am known as Kell"

"Kell will lead the second team, follow his commands, your lives and freedom depend upon it"

At first there is silence, it seems to last an eternity then suddenly a teenage youth cheers, at once like so many her age she stands and speaks with great vigour and passion.

"I will fight!, I will kill for this! I am ready to _die_ for this"

At once another speaks

"hush child, dammit leave this to the.."

At once in a blur of movement the girl moves like water to the voice that would demean her words and right to speak them, in one eams series of motions, she has the man on his back with what was formaly a chair leg at his throat.

"This is _my_ life!"

the words are almost a scream, cracking on the edges and portent of chaos.

"Save it !"

All heads turn again to our stranger

"You will need that rage and passion for what waits outside"

At once the Girl releases the pron man and never breaks eye contact with our stranger.

The white wall of death, tumbles a little further down the mountain...

heh yea, i see someone has edited bants original post, but curious how he went from realy liking it, to thinking it was horrible heh, im pretty sure that little post of "...." that he edited above was actually praise for the story ?

I always enjoy to read it myself, some of it is a little bit cheesy and it glamourises adventures a bit 2 much though hehe

heh yea, i see someone has edited bants original post, but curious how he went from realy liking it, to thinking it was horrible heh, im pretty sure that little post of "...." that he edited above was actually praise for the story ?

I always enjoy to read it myself, some of it is a little bit cheesy and it glamourises adventures a bit 2 much though hehe

The sound is unbearable, the induced heat from the sand storms friction practicaly baking those inside the substand hull of the bio-dome.Moisture runs down the wall gravitating and pooling into riverlets of waters running down the sides, dripping almost imperceptabley in the chaotic wall of sound that is the storm outside.

Our stranger eyes shut seems to be looking up, then speaks.

"Do you hear it ?"there is no reply nobody is sure what in the chaotic symphony of sound he may have focused on, except one, the girl speaks "I think I do..""What is you hear?""I think I can hear nothing, there is noise, but there is nothing beyond that .."Our stranger, comes as close to smiling, as anyone has done in the last few hours."there is nothing beyond the silence other than what we put there"

The first guard speaks, ?who the fuck was watching the storage!?In the back of his mind a little voice spoke, the little voice that constantly calculated?That was more than half our ammo we just lost??Sergeant, you ordered everyone to attack the workers, so everyone did???Including the guards I asked you to post at our ammo store??Look they?re pretty green they ran up to join in with some action, this is their first posting, and after six months of pushing the miners around this is first bit of action they have seen..?

?I?ve seen protests before, but this is different..?With doubt and dread there comes the corporals response.

?Aye this is something ? ? ..new?

Distant thunder is often felt.Before it is heard.

Inside the dome, the Stranger indicates with only his eyes for a moment he wishes to speak privately with the young girl still panting from the recent outburst

She moves unkempt hair from her face; forces back it behind the line of her headband and acknowledges with the briefest of glances.

As the minor augments continue and people are pulled into teams the girl and the stranger move around the bio dome as plain as furniture slowly as clouds and just as un-noticed unnoticed until they have enough distance to speak privately but enough distance to appear apart.

?You show the signs of training?The words hang, not a statement, more a question or perhaps an assumption.

There is only fire in her eyes, no words but simple fury and defiance, she has pale skin more or less grey in colour but vivid violet pupils

?I?m not looking for a man?

?Neither am I?

The fierceness abates in her eyes and the dark expression lightens a tiny shade.

The stranger smiles, mostly with his eyes, dark lines crease his face briefly revealing a much greater age than his dust-covered appearance initially gave.

?What I am looking for, is courage?

As a coin rattles down a well, so our wishes echo in darkness

?I fear nothing for myself??Do you then fear for others??

Her expression darkens quickly as the words form behind her eyes, but before they can find air.

?As do I??No I..??Care as I do??It?s more ..?

The perfect tic-tac-toe the hushed and private conversation returnsto the start

?Who trained you???My mother was a famed craft fighter of earth??Craft fighter??The stranger raises a glimmer of a smile; the faintest of recognition passes the girls face.?She used to fight wicker baskets, clay pots that sort of thing??

The strangers smile becomes a roar of laughter, an honest head back lost in the moment laugh, a ten pints 8 packets of crisps and two whiskey chasers laugh at a dirty joke, kind of laugh.

"I don't give a leets-arse about what the weather is, I want control of the base and I want it yesterday! you dumb fuck"

"Our men don't have enough har...""retake the fucking canteen, get me complete control of this base now!"

"Sir I will give the order"

"You'll do more than that. you will lead the assault captain!"

"Sir"

He remembers, he remembers a summers day on Earth, when that old dead rock had life, had seasons without orbital controlers, when trees where green for some the year and without leaves the rest.He remembers the storms, the houses torn to tinder in one night by the air, the great storms. That's when everything changed.The sky was blue he is sure he remembers that, not the dark orange that you would see today, it's the dust they say, all that gone for nothing, all that gone for money grabbing bastards that are too busy pimping their lifestyle while the world went hell in a basket.

"SIR"

The tone has changed, this does not go un-noticed

"Yes captain" a tone of irrtation the words may as well have been "what now?"

"I regret to inform you that I can not.."

"CAN NOT WHAT CAPTAIN? FIND YOU BALLS WITH A MAP?""GET THE JOB DONE NOW!"

Smaller now, the captian replies."I regret to inform you sir that I will be unable to fullfill that order"

Again anoyance and arrogance wet every word"Oh please tell me why that is captain?"

"Because I did not take on this job to kill women children for no good reason"

there is a pause, and then a sound like dry paper cracking in a fire wich then wets and folds into a coff.. but passes for laughter

"My dear captain, there are no inoccents, only the people inbetween"

"Very trite sir, but I maintain my.."

"Hush your yap, BOY..."

There is a flicker of darkness in the captains eyes, just for a moment most would not see it but this one _does_, the captain knows, he remembers his grandfather telling him of when people saw nothing but your skin he would say, he didn't take it seriousley at the time with everyone a strange shade of blue with sunblock cream but somehow he knew what that old man ment...

"Now if you could take out the order I have given you BOY"

Synergy

Energy never dies they say, the echoes of the birth of the universe are still there, for all to see a very mixed soup of radio waves that echo through millions and millions of years into our time..

There is a flash, a breaking of scilence that concludes in what seems total scilence... the captain looks down at what he has done, blood still pumps from the hole in the comanders head where the notum slug found it's course, the scilence is broken by only this

"You have 28 rebal clanners"in the room someone raises a hand, "erm when did we become clan anything?"

As an aside, the man from the dessert responds

"When you stopped taking it up your arse from the omnis""Or does that still happen?""your a ucking peice of work you a.."

"Do you want to take it up the arse from the omni?"The girl that once held the prone man, smirks then speaks

"Oh come on, that's a low blow!""whatever do you mean ?""your, well your just using retoric to stir these people.. they might not see it but I certainly do"

There is a shift in the air, the strangers eyes darken to the point they suck in the light and yet cast a shadow

"your last meal, how was it?""whaa""Your last meal, remember that?""Yes but""the last meal you ate, how did you obtain it?""we, well we had to ask the comander if we could use their rations and then""ENOUGH!"The word lands like a building

"If you have to beg for food your a slave"Anger now flashes across the young girls face"How dare yo...."

The stranger rises, vocaly he steps up to a rage yet there is control.

"You think yourself not a slave?""No I'm...""SLAVE!""I am not a ""SLAVE!"The girls anger is ovious, the stranger is trying to corner her in this argument

"I am NOT A FUCKING SLAVE, I RULE MY OWN LIFE!"

"Well done, welcome to the Clans"

"Your a bastard!""Undoubtedly, but I still welcome you""No your a total..""Would you like to continue to " the question is loaded it almost collapses under it's own weight,.

"work for omni tech?"

"Your still a bastard!"She smiles, but the mounths words "thank you"There is flicker of recognition, but nothing you could measure more subtle than a blink, but still there.

The room breaths a sigh

"This is captain tracy please repeat your last message"

"I say again, captain tracy, we are _29_ Clanners, would you like to make that 30?"

Dust settles, minds change and then the radio stays quiet.

On the bottom of the mountain, flowers close their petals for what is to come.

Captain Tracy, in his youth was an uncomplicated child who saw things in black and white good and bad like most do in youth.There had been a problem with one other child in his omni corp apartment block other residents moaned about him, and Tracy listened he said nothing; but he listened.Time passed.The other child by his teens and using too many illicit substances with his cronies was becoming a bigger problem, aged not more than 14 but being atrox and very strong "Tr0x0rzlol"was charging creds from the older residents to pass by him and his little troop of low brows.

Tracy was the same age but slight of build as are most opifex but fast and quiet, he watched and he listened.

By age 16 Tracy had spotted a pattern to this problems behavior, he would always leave his cronies late at night to return upstairs to his remaining grandparent who he lived with and would shame him loudly and verbally for his late return.

So after some time planning one night Tracy waited.

Tr0x never really knew what hit him, and was only able to give a very vague description of what happened, during the lucid moments he was ever able to communicate again.Tracy had managed to dislodge the fire retardant canister without setting off the alarms to the rest of the building and hid it and himself out of sight, just before Tr0x's door.There he waited, Tracy was not strong but he was fast, very fast and in this incident deadly accurate, he swept the fire retardant canister which weighed 2 standards more than he did, in a perfect arc directly into the back of Tr0x's head, Tr0x stayed motionless for some seconds before falling backwards down the stairs for 3 levels.

The medical report read:Subject "Tr0x0rlol" had no valid insurance patten from which to draw so we could only work on the 'actual' body brought into omni medical, massive cranial damage to the areas concerning sight and coordination, 192 separate and compound fractures to the skeletal structure no less than 87 to the spinal column....

Tr0x was no longer a problem, he could barely move let alone walk, and was no longer a problem to the apartment block.

Tracy was arrested at the scene and later interviewed, during this interview Tracy admitted to not only assaulting Tr0x but tampering with his insurance data, and could only explain that it needed to be done.He was subsequently recruited into Omni corps promoted and led several successful missions in territories that may not be disclosed.

Now he found himself here, 18 years later and for the first time in his life Tracy was experiencing doubt.